Kotaku: swordfish

How 50 Cent: Blood On The Sand Works

Mike Fahey — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:20:00 MST

In the latest developer diary for 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, members of the development team explain how the hardcore rapper and his crew take on a fictional Middle Eastern country.

The video takes us through most if not all of the gameplay mechanics for the new 50 Cent game, covering weapons, vehicle combat, online multiplayer, and close-combat kills. What it doesn't do is justify the existence of a video game in which a drug dealer turned raper and his posse take on the population of a small country in the Middle East. The whole concept is made even sillier by the members of the Swordfish development team, whose English accents only add to the surreal feeling surrounding the title.

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 should be hitting store shelves later this month. Maybe then I'll finally be able to believe it's a real game and not some elaborate prank.

50 Cent: "Trash Talking"

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:30:00 MST

While stuck in the Middle East on a murderous rampage in pursuit of his crystal skull, 50 Cent will meet countless locals. And, once met, he shall regale them with pleasantries and compliments.

Or not. Please don't watch this at work. Please.

Your laughter will make co-workers suspicious.

The 50 Cent Game Has A Story. These Are The People Behind It.

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 02:30:00 MST

We know. You're sitting there, all smug, thinking the extent of 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand's story amounts to "WHEH MAH SKULL?". Well, you're wrong. There's a rich tapestry at play here.

One that weaves together strands of love, betrayal, politics, conflict and the questioning of self.

OK, I lied. I'm sorry. Still, amazing seeing them keep a straight face through the whole thing, isn't it? Like, these guys know the inherent awesomeness of their self-parody storyline, but to keep the ad men and PR team happy will play it serious for a 4-minute video.

Our hats are off to you, Swordfish.

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is Dead, Dead, Dead [Update]

Brian Crecente — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 08:00:00 MDT

Remember 50 Cent II, the sequel to discography-cum-video game 50-Cent: Bulletproof? The game that Sierra named 50-Cent: Blood on the Sand? The one that has a love-interest, slick graphics and tons of blood?

Yeah, it's dead. Caught in the unflinching cogs of big video game business, mergers, and close downs, we hear. Victim of a flooded genre and a potential publisher with one too many shooters on its hands.

But don't cry for Fifty. We hear the G-Unit-sporting rapper got his appearance cash, while Swordfish, the team behind the budding game, is likely to get sold off.

You gotta love this business.

Update, We Got it Wrong, Wrong, Wrong: Turns out that our internal sources were slightly confused and despite our best efforts we got it wrong. While I'm still waiting for some sort of official word from the companies involved, this is what we've heard: While 50-Cent: Blood on the Sand was indeed jettisoned by Activision, the project isn't dead. In fact we're told that it is approaching gold and that a deal, perhaps with THQ as publisher, is in the wings.

Update 2: Activision has responded:

"We have a policy of not commenting on rumors.

I can tell you that we announced back in July that we are retaining only those franchises that are a strong fit with our long-term strategy - - Crash Bandicoot, Ice Age, Spyro, Protoype and an unannounced new IP. We will not publish other titles that previously were part of the Vivendi Games portfolio and are currently reviewing our options regarding these titles."